Tezza's Theatre Place

Michael Ball Photography BrinkhoffMögenburg It’s always nice when two of your favourite things come together – for example, musical theatre and ABBA. So when I was asked if I wanted to go and see the new version of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice’s musical  Chess  at the Coliseum. I leapt at the chance. Set during the height of the cold war,  Chess  is the story of two Chess Grandmasters – Frederick Trumper (Tim Howar) from the USA and Russian Anatoly Sergievsky (Michael Ball) – battling it out to be world champions under the watchful eye of The Arbiter (Cedric Neal). Both men are totally different. Trumper is loud, brash, arrogant and often ends up arguing with his ‘second’ Florence (Cassidy Janson). On the other hand, Anatoly is a family man, married to Svetlana (Alexandra Burke) and, by all appearances, a dedicated ambassador of the Soviet Union, particularly under the watchful eye of his state-appointed ‘second’ Ivan Molokov (Philip Browne). As t...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/172994/review-border-men-kings-head-theatre/ On the 26th May 1952, East Germany implemented a “special regime on the demarcation line” between itself and West Germany. The demarcation line or border was one of the world’s most heavily fortified frontiers, defined by a continuous line of high metal fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps and minefields. It was patrolled by 50,000 armed East Germans all tasked with the job of ensuring that the happy workers of the DDR weren’t corrupted by going over to the decadent West. The guards were, of course, humans and humans have emotions and dreams. Jack Westerman has used this backdrop at this time for his new play  Border Men  at the King’s Head Theatre. Out in the hinterland of the border, a lone soldier comes into the guard hut. His name is Sgt Dieter Hertwig (Chris Barritt) and, tonight he is early for his inspection of the fence. Afte...